Use of Drugs among Persons Admitted to a County Jail

Examinations of 427 prisoners at the time of the their admission to a large urban county jail showed that more than a quarter were, or had been, users of potentially addictive drugs. Except for their drug problems, the drug users did not present any more or different health problems than the nonusers. The treatment for drug abuse recommended by the examining physicians was, for the most part, not available in the facility. Evidence of continued drug use in the jail by less than 10 percent of the prisoners was obtained at 4-week and 8-week followup examinations. Detection of drug use by means of questionnaires and urine testing was shown to be feasible among persons admitted to such a jail.